Happy Birthday Claus
by Pikana
Summary: "Popo, meet Claus!" Popo wasn't sure what to say. After all, what did you say to your crazy friend's brother's tombstone? Oneshot


Happy Birthday Claus

I don't know... this just came to me. My friend was doing it at her brother's funeral... And there weren't enough fics about Popo XD. Seriously... when is Lucas' birthday?

I DON'T OWN ANYTHING! I'M BEGGING FOR YOUR MERCY!

*bricked*

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Lucas Ryuka yawned, stretching his arms as he sleepily played with his spoon, watching soggy cereal and milk fall off it. The PSI boy was tired. As of late, he had unfortunate fate of having his sleep plagued with nightmares. Nightmares caused by eating way too much sugar before bed and having way too many Brawls in the day.

Not a good combination in anyone.

Sighing, he finished his breakfast. At least he had something to look forward to today. He didn't have to fight, either! Master Hand had allowed him to take the day off so he could celebrate today by himself.

It was their birthday after all.

Lucas stood up, and put away his dishes in the dishwasher. He usually would have been a good boy and done the dishes by himself -and save Peach some time- but he had much more important things to do than be a neat-freak.

He rubbed at his sleepy eyes, in a way a young child would, before he picked up a picture that was in his small Pokemon wallet on the kitchen counter. He grinned, in a similar way that the two children in the photo did.

In the photo were two male twins, both were jumping in the autumn leaves. At first glance, they would both appear to be brothers, and the guesser would be right. The one on the left had dark brown hair. He bore a smile the stretched over his full face. It was obvious that he had been photographed in mid-air, his slender legs thrown behind him.

The other one, this one a blonde boy, was doing something similar. He had a grin, albeit not as big and hard to see because of a scarf, and looked like that day was his happiest ever. It was a few weeks before their eighth birthday. Before...

Lucas shook his head. There was no point about thinking about the past right now. Not today, any day but today. _Today_ was Claus' Birthday!

He placed the wallet into his pocket. The teenager cherished the photo, as it was one of the few he didn't burn nor put in the attic, after his death. He wasn't sure why he liked it so much, he just did. His smile turned grim. If Claus was still around, he would have been about 15 now.

_'He would have probably been at the fantastic Smash Mansion, too'_ he thought. But fate had another idea for him. Instead he died, in a suicide incident. They were 13 as well...

Lucas pushed back those thoughts. It wasn't time to think of the bad and depressing things, it was time to think of the great things. Just like his dad had told him.

He picked up his bus pass. "I'll have to head down town to get some flowers, then head to the cemetery." He murmured to himself.

At least he was able to talk to him, and give him the letters he wrote, instead of hoarding them. But alas, due to his Brawls he couldn't write them as much as he would have liked. Lucas then felt something inside him guide him to the kitchen door. It was his powers, as usual, sensing another presence.

Deep in thought, he made his way to the entry. The blonde pulled open the door, and was greeted by a familiar face; Popo stood in front of him, looking like he was about to knock. The brunette blinked dumbly. "That was... awfully convenient." He stated.  
Lucas rolled his eyes at his friend's usual idiotic statement of the day. "Popo... you do realize I'm psychic, right?"

Popo laughed. "Right... sorry dude."

Lucas smiled and nodded. He liked the Climber duo. Popo was hilarious and Nana... Nana was just so kind and sweet... not to mention pretty. He liked spending time with the two and enjoyed their company when they hung out with Ness and himself.

Hmmm... Ness wasn't there... perhaps he was at a Brawl or a practice fight. He had been making great progress recently and was getting close to beating the pros...

Lucas snapped out of his thoughts, he was greeted by blue gloved fingers snapping in his face. "Could you stop that?"

"Sure, sure." They lapsed into a strangely peaceful silence.

"You know, Lucas, if one thing has stayed in my head about you, I'd say it's the fact that you always seem to space out. Always..." The ice wielder said this with an uncharacteristically thoughtful look in his eye.

This time it was Lucas' turn to blink dumbly. He didn't quiet understand what his friend was trying to say. Confused with just trying to understand, he changed the subject. "Popo, is there any specific reason what you're here?"

"No, not really. It's just..." He averted his gaze, "hey... could I hang out with you? Nana's ill today and she's stuck in bed. I got bored so... yeah. Plus it's your birthday, isn't it? Happy 15th man!" The parka-wearer pulled out a small, crumpled package and handed it to Lucas.

The striped-shirt teen raised his eyebrow, the sides of his lips twitching.

"Hey! Stop that, it's not _that _funny, Lucas!"

"Yes, it was... and I'll open it later," Lucas said as he placed it into his pocket, "I'm going out now anyway."

Another silence. This wasn't new to the two, as it happened often.

"Well," Lucas eventually said. "I was just going to get some flowers, and stop at a few other places, so do you want to come?"

"Sure, I guess. Who are the flowers for, by the way?" The Ice Climber winked, as the two made their way though the hallway. Lucas' face flushed a faint pink- red color. "Wha... No...! It's not like that Popo!" He said hastily.

Popo raised his eyebrows in a rather suggestive manner and Lucas resisted the urge to laugh. "No really! They're for my brother, you sicko!"

The brunette gave a cheeky grin. The grin was soon replaced by a more serious look. "Your brother...? He isn't sick or anything, is he?" He half-whispered as they opened the door to the outside.

"No, it's his birthday as well. He is my twin after all," the two gave a laugh, "Hey, I should introduce you to him! I'm sure he'll be glad to see you." Lucas beamed, looking up to one of his best friends.

"Sure."

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-DAMN PAGE BREAKER-

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After a short trip around the grand town of Smashville, the two made their way toward the inter-dimensional cemetery. Popo never asked why they were going there. Ness had offhandedly mentioned the young boy's mother was dead a few years ago, to Nana and himself, so he just figured Lucas wanted to visit his mother's grave.

The second- and oddly smaller- bouquet of roses, which was sat snug between blonde teen's arms, beside a bouquet of iris and orchids, were to say anything, his guess would be correct.

Lucas looked the happiest Popo had seen him before. The psychic had gone in and out of depression as of late, not that he blamed him considering...

Either way it made Popo feel horrible, to see Lucas like that. It was nice seeing him happy. Scratch that, he was practically beaming.

"What's you brother's name, anyways, Lucas?"

"Claus."

"Claus..." Popo listened to it as it rolled off his tongue. It had a very strong tone to it.

"Yep, that's his name. He's a really cool and brave guy… he was my hero."

Popo didn't bother to correct the past tense. He thought it was just a mistake and disregarded it. They turned, away for the hustle and bustle of the city, to the deserted graveyard. The smile on Lucas' face lessened, but didn't completely disappear. He looked creepy, smiling so much in a place that was filled with the scent of death.

Popo followed the other teen, as he weaved in and out of the graves. Finally, Lucas stopped, in front of a few not-so fancy looking tombstones. He sat the roses in front of one.

Lucas turned and walked a few meters before stopping in front of another grave marker. The brunette followed, reading the inscription on the first one as he did.

_Mrs. Hinawa Ryuka_

Lucas sat the flowers slowly on the ground, as though they were made of fragile glass.

"Wait, weren't those flowers for you're brother?" Popo asked, dumbfounded. Then it dawned on him. Lucas' twin was _dead,_ wasn't he?

"Yep!" He replied, a crazy, Ganondorf-like grin on his face. It was doubtful Lucas was trying to look like that purposely, but it was just as scary. Either Lucas had gone insane or he was introducing him to a tombstone.

"Popo, meet Claus!"

Maybe it was a mix of both.

"Ummmm... hi Claus." Popo said. Lucas looked at him, like an even smaller child then he was, as if he was seeing if Popo had anything to say. The brunette wasn't exactly sure what to say honestly. What did you say to your crazy friend's brother's tombstone?

Thankfully, Popo was saved from any one way conversation as Lucas dug though his pockets of his pants, pulling a letter. Lucas bent down, carefully sticking the letter into the arrangement. On the envelope was the name '_Claus'_

"... You still write to your brother... ?" Popo murmured._ 'He must have really loved and looked up to him...'_

"Yes… Why?"

"You know he can't read them, right? I don't know much about your religion, but..." He trailed off, unsure if he should continue.

Lucas' face became more serious, but he was still smiling. He looked to the sky. "I believe he can. And I forgive him..." He said that one statement with the most honesty Popo had ever heard. They lapsed into a silence, but this time it was tenser and less peaceful.

"Lucas... you are _so_ creepy."

The blonde's face fell. He looked like a hurt child. "What...?" Tears brimmed at his eyes. He was an overemotional person, and... that had hurt. It was a statement he had heard before, from bullies in his childhood.

He turned to face his good friend. Said friend was grinning, not a smirk or a grin of malice, a real, honest grin. Lucas blinked stupidly, for the second time that day. He was confused.

"But..." Popo continued, turning to face Lucas "That's one of the things I like the most about you." Sincerity dripped off of his voice.

Lucas smiled, once again. Popo, now a days reminded him so much of him when they were both young... "Thank you..."

_"Both of you."

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Trivia: Lucas' last name in this fic is his Japanese name

And that's it. Something friendshippy and happy from me instead of my usual bad stuff. I hoped you all liked it.

Review!


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